---
title: Environment Variables
description: "Complete reference for environment variables used by the VibeKit CLI"
---

## Overview

The VibeKit CLI uses environment variables for configuration, API keys, and integration settings. These can be set in your shell, `.env` files, or passed directly to commands.

## API Keys

### AI Agent Keys

Configure API keys for different AI providers:

| Variable | Description | Required For |
|----------|-------------|--------------|
| `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` | Anthropic API key for Claude | `--agent claude` |
| `OPENAI_API_KEY` | OpenAI API key | `--agent codex` |
| `GOOGLE_API_KEY` | Google API key | `--agent gemini` |
| `GROQ_API_KEY` | Groq API key | `--agent opencode` |

Example:
```bash
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-api03-..."
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."
export GOOGLE_API_KEY="AIza..."
export GROQ_API_KEY="gsk_..."

### Priority Order

API keys are resolved in this order:
1. Command line `--api-key` option
2. Environment-specific API key variable
3. Environment variables passed via `--env`
4. `.env` file in current directory

## GitHub Integration

### Authentication

| Variable | Description | Required For |
|----------|-------------|--------------|
| `GITHUB_TOKEN` | Personal access token | PR creation, Git operations |
| `GITHUB_REPOSITORY` | Repository in `owner/repo` format | PR creation |

Example:
```bash
export GITHUB_TOKEN="ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
export GITHUB_REPOSITORY="myorg/myrepo"

### Token Permissions

Required GitHub token scopes:
- `repo` - Full repository access
- `write:pull_requests` - Create PRs
- `read:user` - Read user profile

## Provider Configuration

### Dagger (Local Provider)

| Variable | Description | Default |
|----------|-------------|---------|
| `VIBEKIT_PREFER_REGISTRY_IMAGES` | Use Docker Hub images instead of local builds | `false` |
| `DOCKER_USERNAME` | Docker Hub username for image uploads | None |

Example:
```bash
export VIBEKIT_PREFER_REGISTRY_IMAGES="true"
export DOCKER_USERNAME="myusername"

### Northflank

| Variable | Description | Default |
|----------|-------------|---------|
| `NORTHFLANK_PROJECT_ID` | Default project ID for Northflank | None |
| `NORTHFLANK_API_TOKEN` | Northflank API token | None |

### Daytona

| Variable | Description | Default |
|----------|-------------|---------|
| `DAYTONA_WORKSPACE_ID` | Default workspace ID | None |
| `DAYTONA_API_TOKEN` | Daytona API token | None |

### E2B

| Variable | Description | Default |
|----------|-------------|---------|
| `E2B_API_KEY` | E2B API key | None |
| `E2B_TEAM_ID` | E2B team identifier | None |


## Default Settings

### Resource Allocation

| Variable | Description | Default |
|----------|-------------|---------|
| `VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_CPU` | Default CPU cores for environments | 2 |
| `VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_MEMORY` | Default memory in MB | 2048 |
| `VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_DISK` | Default disk space in GB | 20 |

Example:
```bash
export VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_CPU="4"
export VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_MEMORY="4096"
export VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_DISK="50"

### Behavior Settings

| Variable | Description | Default |
|----------|-------------|---------|
| `VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_AGENT` | Default AI agent type | None |
| `VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT` | Default command timeout in ms | 30000 |
| `VIBEKIT_AUTO_CLEANUP` | Auto-delete stopped environments | `false` |

## Development Settings

### Debug Options

| Variable | Description | Default |
|----------|-------------|---------|
| `VIBEKIT_DEBUG` | Enable debug logging | `false` |
| `VIBEKIT_LOG_LEVEL` | Log level (error, warn, info, debug) | `info` |
| `VIBEKIT_LOG_FILE` | Log output file | None (stdout) |

Example:
```bash
export VIBEKIT_DEBUG="true"
export VIBEKIT_LOG_LEVEL="debug"
export VIBEKIT_LOG_FILE="/tmp/vibekit.log"

## Using .env Files

### File Location

The CLI automatically loads `.env` files from:
1. Current working directory
2. Project root (if in a git repository)
3. Home directory (`~/.env`)

### .env File Format

```bash
# .env
# AI API Keys
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-api03-...
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...

# GitHub Integration
GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_...
GITHUB_REPOSITORY=owner/repo

# Provider Settings
DOCKER_USERNAME=myusername
NORTHFLANK_PROJECT_ID=proj_123

# Defaults
VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_AGENT=claude
VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_MEMORY=4096

# Debug
VIBEKIT_DEBUG=true

### Security Best Practices

1. **Never commit `.env` files** - Add to `.gitignore`
2. **Use `.env.example`** - Template without secrets
3. **Restrict permissions** - `chmod 600 .env`
4. **Rotate keys regularly** - Update API keys periodically

## Command-Specific Variables

### vibekit init

Additional variables during initialization:
```bash
# Skip interactive prompts
export VIBEKIT_INIT_PROVIDERS="Dagger,E2B"
export VIBEKIT_INIT_AGENTS="claude,codex"
export VIBEKIT_INIT_CPU="4"
export VIBEKIT_INIT_MEMORY="4096"

### vibekit local create

Override defaults for environment creation:
```bash
# Set working directory
export VIBEKIT_WORKING_DIR="/app"

# Set default environment variables
export VIBEKIT_ENV_VARS="NODE_ENV=development,PORT=3000"

## Precedence Rules

Environment variables are loaded in this order (later overrides earlier):

1. System environment variables
2. `~/.env` file
3. Project `.env` file
4. Current directory `.env` file
5. Command line options

Example:
```bash
# System env
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="old-key"

# .env file
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=new-key

# Command line (highest priority)
vibekit local create --api-key "newest-key"

## Validation

### Checking Variables

View current settings:
```bash
# All environment variables
env | grep VIBEKIT

# Specific variable
echo $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

# In environment
vibekit local exec -e my-env -c "env | grep API"

### Required Variables

Commands will fail with clear messages if required variables are missing:
❌ No API key found for claude agent. 
Set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable or use --api-key

## Troubleshooting

### Variables Not Loading

```bash
# Check if .env exists
ls -la .env

# Verify format
cat .env

# Test loading
source .env
echo $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

### Permission Issues

```bash
# Fix .env permissions
chmod 600 .env

# Check ownership
ls -l .env

### Debugging Variable Loading

```bash
# Enable debug mode
export VIBEKIT_DEBUG=true

# Run command to see variable loading
vibekit local create --name test

## Best Practices

### 1. Use .env.example

Create a template for team members:
```bash
# .env.example
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-anthropic-key-here
OPENAI_API_KEY=your-openai-key-here
GITHUB_TOKEN=your-github-token-here
GITHUB_REPOSITORY=owner/repo

### 2. Separate Environments

Use different files for different environments:
```bash
# .env.development
VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_AGENT=codex
VIBEKIT_DEBUG=true

# .env.production
VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_AGENT=claude
VIBEKIT_DEBUG=false

### 3. Security Script

Check for exposed secrets:
```bash
#!/bin/bash
# check-secrets.sh
files=".env .env.* *.env"
for file in $files; do
  if [ -f "$file" ]; then
    if grep -q "sk-\|ghp_\|gsk_" "$file"; then
      echo "WARNING: $file might contain secrets"
      ls -la "$file"
    fi
  fi
done

## Related Topics

- [Configuration Files](/cli/configuration-files) - Other configuration options
- [Installation](/cli/installation) - Initial setup and configuration
- [Quick Reference](/cli/quick-reference) - Common variable usage